


The Lost Moon (Nico/Reader AU)

by juustpeachy



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angsty nico, Daughter of Artemis, Daughter of Athena, Demigods, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Greek Mythology - Freeform, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Nico Feels, Reader-Insert, Son of Hades, but he's had a hard knock life i mean it's k, he's kinda douchy at first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-10 08:42:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11688093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juustpeachy/pseuds/juustpeachy
Summary: It all started when you caught a glimpse of a mysteriously intriguing boy on the bus. Strangely after, your school is under attack. A friendly face takes you to a place where you not only discover and unravel more about the boy, but the truth about your mother, and why she disappeared all of those years ago...





	1. the boy on the bus

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little Nico AU. He's still the son of Hades, and he's still in his dark angsty phase. ;) Let's just see where this goes. Enjoyy

 

  You sit at the dining table and wait for the kettle to whistle. Your father sits across the table from you, drinking his plain tea and reading the weekly paper. This was what it was like every morning. Wake up, eat breakfast and watch dad read the paper, go to school, sleep, and repeat. If only you’d known how different it would be within the next twelve hours.

  
“Want some cereal?” he asks you, keeping his eye on his paper. You remember that you only have raisin bran in your cupboards, and try to let out a smile. “I think I’m good.”

  
     You and your dad aren't necessarily the closest. With him busy with work, and you (tragically) trying to keep up with your senior year of high school, father- daughter bonding time just didn’t make your everyday schedules. It was times like this where you wish that you'd wish to have a woman in the house- maybe a motherly figure to ask you about your day at school, or to help you with your boy trouble. Only the gods know how much you’d spill if you had the chance to talk about all of your boy drama. But you had no one. Your mother left you and your dad when you were just an infant. Your dad didn’t even keep pictures with him to give you a piece of mind, but you never asked, in case it was a touchy subject.

     There was only one thing he’s mentioned of your mother, and it’s probably the only thing that’ll give you the slightest image. You recall sitting on the balcony of your apartment one summer evening, seeing the streetcars pass by below you. That’s when your dad turned to face you, and looked at the sky up above. “You look exactly like her, y’know.” He said. And you stood there in silence, because for the first time ever, you began to decipher what features of yours came from your dad. And there wasn’t much.

  
     You’ve tried envisioning what your mother looked like. She probably had the same nose as you, same style and colour of hair, and possibly even the same round eyes. But you could only imagine.

  
     You finish a nutritious and delicious cup of coffee and take the elevator downstairs to make it to your bus stop on time. As you stand in the semi- crowded cart, something catches your eye.

Scratch that- someone catches your eye.

     You spot a boy, maybe around your age, or if not a bit older than you. He’s slumped back in his seat and his legs are sprawled out in front of him (because of course, personal space doesn’t exist). He was wearing a large jacket (was that an aviators jacket?), black skinny ripped jeans, and his hair- although dark and messy, complimented his pale skin. In other words, he was beautiful.

  
     That’s until he began to stare at something on his finger intently. His face furrowed and he rolled his eyes, throwing his head back in exasperation. You liked it better when he didn’t look like he wanted to punch somebody. It scares you a little more that he has a large black pointy knife sticking out of the side of his pants. But what intrigues you even more, is that you’ve never seen him around town before. And you’re definite that you’d remember someone like him.

    
     You reach your stop and pay your fair, making sure to put every cent in the clear box. Before you step off, you turn back, and catch the dark haired boy glance at you. He finally changes his position in his chair, pulls his legs in, and begins to look at the window in front of him. You un-board the bus and walk your way to the longest six and a half hours of your entire life; class.

  
↠ ↠ ↠

 

     Art history is interesting, if you’ve ever wondered how many architectural designs the Romans stole from the Greeks.

Your eyes begin to feel heavy. Directly after this class, you’d go home and hopefully get the three hour sleep that you surely didn’t get last night. To make matters even better, it's raining like hell outside, and all of your teachers made it very clear that the rain would soon turn into a severe thunderstorm. Delightful.

  
     A streak of lightning flashes outside. In a matter of seconds, the lights began to flicker and burn out. You hear the loud sound of an alarm blare throughout the school halls. You lift your head from your desk and look around you. “Fire alarm! Everybody, out! NOW!” Your teacher screams within the havoc. People are scrambling in panic to exit the classroom. “It’s this goddamn storm…” you hear her mumble once more. Others are gathering their valuables, in hopes that nothing of theirs will be swallowed by the fire. You stand and feel your heartbeat rise increasingly. There have been instances of false alarms, but this was real.

And you needed to find a way to get out of there, and quick.

     The room began to fill with smoke. There are only a few people left in the classroom, including you. You manage to stumble out of the classroom, inhaling the toxic smoke, making you cough uncontrollably. You glance at the end of the narrow corridor. Unless someone had spiked the storm clouds and polluted the rainwater with some sort of volatile liquid, you could’ve sworn that you saw something stand there and stare at you. This wasn’t a person; it was too big to be human. Its small head reached the top of the fifty foot tall ceiling with ease, but its long neck bent behind it- so it must’ve been able to reach taller.

     Its large body located under its neck sprouted large blanketed wings, but beyond that, its feet were hidden beneath the smoke. The smoke in which you were slowly filling your weak lungs with. You heard it snarl within the menace. But somehow, your gaze becomes fixed on the giant reptilian. And you couldn’t move. Students screamed. Teachers evacuated. No one came for you. “Oh gods,” you mutter, “I’m going to die.”

    
     Suddenly, you felt something grasp your leg below you. You urged to free yourself, but you realized that it was the creature in front of you, because it gave you an evil, grimace smile. You attempt to run in the opposite direction, but your struggle makes everything worse, and you fall onto the cool floor. But you don’t feel pressure on your leg anymore. The smoke around you turns a darker grey. Flames emerge from behind the creature, illuminating its scales and large feet. But your gaze gets fuzzy, and you feel your arms become heavier and heavier; stopping you from pulling yourself off of the ground.

  
     You lay there, seeing two faint figures run in front of you towards the creature. “It’s tail!” You hear someone yell, possibly a girl. “Stop, don’t go…” You try to yell but only manage to mumble, weakening by the second. You lie on the floor, your back against the cool tile below. You let your arms fall to the floor. And everything went black.

 

↠ ↠ ↠

 

     “No more Ambrosia? Really, Nico?” You hear a voice say. Your eyes begin to flutter open, bright light almost blinds you. Who was that? Where are you? Millions of questions begin to form and you can’t seem to feel your leg. You find a way to squint your eyes open, and you realize that you’re lying down, on the ground, in the middle of a forest.  
“Wait,” you say and sit up immediately. “Woah woah, back on the blanket, kid.” You hear that same voice say. You’ve heard it before. Where have you heard it before?

     “You’ve been out for almost eighteen hours,” they say, “about time you woke up. Let me know when you’re hungry.” You follow the voice, and it leads to a strawberry- blond haired girl who looked much older than you. “Who are you?” You plainly ask. Just then, you feel a jolt of pain streak through your entire left leg. And then you begin to remember. The school fire. The creature with scales…

“Juliet Maurel. Daughter of Athena.” She casually says, biting into her half-eaten apple. Your eyes widen. “Daughter of what, now?”

     “The better question is,” she interrupts, “why didn’t you tell me your leg just began to hurt? Like, a lot?” You squeeze the blanket below you. There’s no way she could’ve known…

For a second, you feel yourself stop breathing.

     “Relax,” she says, “You winced while you were talking. And also, it’s as stiff as a ruler. Let me check it out.” She crawls over and sits beside you, removing the blanket. You shriek in horror at the sight of your foot. It’s seemed to have turned an unpleasant shade of purple. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” She says as she places the blanket on it again. “I know it looks bad, but we can’t stay here and wait for you to heal. I have to get you to the Villa…”

     She pulls you up and swings your right arm over her shoulders, supporting you as you walk. And then, you remember something else and force her to stop in her tracks. “Wait, I’ve been out for how long? Eighteen hours? Look, thank you for helping me, but my dad..” “Your dad’s fine. We’ve contacted him, and he completely understands. He’s safe. Don’t sweat it.” She says as she pulls you over a fallen tree. “How do you know my dad?” you ask curiously. “Oh no, I don’t know your dad.” She says, “But the person that we’re about to see? They do.”

 

 


	2. the villa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You discover what the "Villa" is, and why you were taken there.

          Turns out, this place that Juliet decided to take you was in the complete middle of nowhere. At least, that’s what it looked like at first. After almost two hours of walking, the both of you had stumbled upon a cave; on purpose. “Inside.” she said, “it’s the quickest way.” “Way to where, exactly?” She let out a small chuckle, “You’ll know when we get there.”

            _When we get there._ Her words ring through your mind. _When?_ As you step into the cave, the light grows smaller. Your footsteps echo throughout the narrow, long space. You walk for moments of silence, until Juliet decides to break it. “This,” she begins, “this place that we’re going, is a place where people like me can be safe. Away from…” she pauses, “Creatures?” You finish for her. She nods with a thin smile. You hadn’t noticed that you’ve began to breath heavily. You heave every step that you take, not realizing that you’ve put more than half of your weight on Juliet as you lean on her. This girl is strong as hell. And you thanked the gods for that.

            “That scaly thing back there…” “A Python,” she corrects, “One of my great grandmother’s little pet snakes. He can kind of sense when the presence of Ancient Greek blood is near.” “Why did it grab me?” You softly ask, “Was it going to… eat me?” She let out a slight chuckle, “Nothing like that. You ask too many questions. And I’ve said too much,” she kicks a stone out of your way, “We’re almost there. Just a couple of miles away. Hold on.” You put your question about what she meant by 'People like her' aside and followed her lead towards the end of the cave.

↠ ↠ ↠

            Nothing- and you mean _nothing_ could’ve prepared you for what you saw next.

     As the end of the cave approaches, you adjust your eyes to the light and step through, feeling a cool summer breeze pass you by. You scan your surroundings. You seem to be on an old- fashioned street, with vintage buildings and street carts zooming through a town. There's just one thing that made your eyebrows furrow in curiosity. Everyone in this town- whatever this town is- seems to be no older than twenty. Even children roamed the streets, racing each other without a care in the world. You take a closer look at the sidewalk, and realize that the vendors at each stand could be no more than fourteen years old. You've never seen anything more beautiful and lively than this. “What is this place?” You ask, not lifting your gaze. “The Villa, that place I was telling you about,” she says, “We’re here. But we have someone to find first.”

            As you walk with your arm over Juliet, you can’t help but notice the multiple stares that you see at the corner of your eye. They don’t really look like warm welcome stares, and you swallow down your worry. Multiple people whisper and even briefly ask Juliet questions like, “Daughter of who?” but she shrugs them off, and continues to carry you through the busy streets. You don’t necessarily know where you are in the Villa anymore- or whether you’re even still in the Villa. Juliet’s leads you to an open part of a forest, next to a body of water, where more small houses sprout near the bay. This place seems to be crowded as well, because you feel multiple sets of eyes land on you as you pass by. As soon as you catch a glimpse of someone who looks vaguely familiar, Juliet tugs your arm and leads you in the opposite direction.

You make it to a tall, blue house- looking building, with a slim pointy grey roof. As you and Juliet walk through the front door, you find that the whole room is actually circular- and no more than ten feet in diameter. There’s a girl at the table who looks about the same age as Juliet, with dark tan skin and long brown hair. Her eyes are closed, and she’s sitting with her hands on her lap as if she were practicing some sort of meditation. She looked like she could’ve come straight out of the eighties with her neon green cuffs and gold headbands. More or less, she could pull it off. You let out a small laugh at the thought of yourself attempting to pull of something like that.

“Why is she laughing?” she says, her eyes still closed. You immediately keep your mouth shut, and bite down on your tongue. She smiles. It creeps the absolute hell out of you.

“Laris, this is the new one.” Juliet says. The girl's eyes shoot open, and they land on Juliet, “Oh,” she says, moving her gaze on you, “right.” She looks at you up and down and smiles. _Geez_ , you wanted to say, _easy with the death stare. You may just kill me._ “How rude of me,” Laris says, and sticks her hand out, “Laris Greenwood. Descendant of the Oracle.”

“Oracle?” you repeat, “like, the, uh…” “Oracle of Delphi.” She interrupts. “Right.” You say. You’re unsure of any of this, but you go with it. If she really was a descendant of _the_ Oracle, then she could really kill you with her stare. “Daughter of who?” She looks to Juliet. “We’re here to find out.” Juliet states. “Wait, wait…” you say, “if the Oracle is real, then…” “It’s all real,” Laris says, “The whole spiel. And you, my friend, are the daughter of someone very important.” Your heartbeat increases. You don't want to believe it, but there has to be an explanation for that creature, and your leg, and this place…

            “Have you seen the Aphrodite kids?” Juliet quickly asks, “I, uh, haven’t seen them around lately.” Laris rolls her eyes, “Could care less about them. They’re so full of themselves. How can you be so annoying, yet have the perfect redone manicure every single day?” Laris laughs, and Juliet let out a small laugh as well. "Yeah, right.." Juliet says. Somehow, she didn't necessarily sound like she hated them for a moment. “That bad, huh?” you ask. “Trust me,” Laris pointed to you, “if you’re an Aphrodite kid, I’ll pity you. But I have a feeling you’d be one of the cooler ones.” She smiles. You thank her for the… compliment?

          “Your name?” Laris asks. “Y/N.” “Last name?” “Wellman.” “Come sit,” she points to a small, purple cushioned stool in front of her. Juliet helps you sit, and you straighten your good leg in relief of a chance to rest. You'd been walking for hours. "I'll fix that for you, by the way. There's gotta be something in this house that can change the colour of your leg." she winks. "Thanks." you sigh.

“Let me look into you.” Laris says, flattening her tablecloth. Look _into_ you? Now you have a feeling that she really is going to kill you. You sit on the stool with uneasiness, and Laris grabs your hands. She scans them with caution, and you all of a sudden wonder why Juliet would take you through a cave and into a Villa, just to get your fortune told.

     “You’ve misunderstood me, haven’t you?” Laris asked. Your hands had tensed, “No, I mean...” “Honey, I’m not a fortune teller. Fortune doesn’t exist in my dictionary,” She smiled, “But the past? Present? The future? Now that’s a trio that does exist. _That’s_ what I look into.”

You felt your cheeks burn. She read your every thought, and now you felt like a complete shithead. “I’m so sorry, it’s this thing I do,” you attempted to justify, “overthinking things and whatnot.” “Don’t worry, I get it. I know a thing or two about overthinking.” She said with a giggle, and you smile in relief. You glanced at Juliet, and she nodded.

            Laris closed her eyes as she held your hands. The room went dim. You didn’t know whether it had been minutes or hours, but finally, Laris spoke. But when she did, her eyes shot open, and they were glowing purple. You gasped back a shriek in horror. “Your godly parent,” she says, which makes you shiver, “they…” she closed her eyes and shook her head.

     Her eyes had reverted back to their emerald green colour. The light emerged back into the room. “What happened?” Juliet asks. Laris looked to you with worry, “Can I have a moment with Juliet? I’ll be no more than a minute.” You nodded, limping with your swollen leg towards the door, closing it behind you. You leaned your head onto the door and closed your eyes in exhaustion, holding onto the handle for stability while you stand. Through the door, even though you didn’t mean to eavesdrop, you overheard faint voices of the conversation between Juliet and Laris.  

 “Her parent, they don’t want her knowing yet.” Laris said.

“What do you mean?”

“I tried. Really, I did. But something was blocking my sight. It wasn’t giving me permission to pass.”

     Permission to pass? What the heck did _that_ mean? You were too distracted by the concept that you became unaware of the footsteps coming from behind you. “Hey!” You heard a voice yell beside you. You jumped and immediately turned around, only to see a familiar face stand in front of you. You recognized him in an instant. It was the boy on the bus. “Why?” you asked, holding your heart to try and recover from your mini heart attack. His hair was still messy, and now that he stood closer, you could see the definition of his features on his face. His eyes looked weary and somewhat sunken in, but...

 _Damn_.

You had a good feeling you could pinpoint who his godly parent was just based on what he was wearing.

      “So you’re the talk of the town, huh, newbie?” he said, scanning you. Your eyebrow rose and you attempted to cross your arms, but you quickly remembered that if you let go of the door handle, you’d fall face flat onto the porch. You continued to lean back on the door; the dark- haired boy just a few feet away from you, towering you in interrogation. Wow, somewhat attractive and a complete ass? _Surprise, surprise._ But you weren’t fazed.

     “Newbie?” you ask, clearly annoyed by the nickname. “Wait, you're the doll that I saw on the bus that one morning.” He said, completely ignoring what you said, “What are you, daughter of Aphrodite?" "No clue." You couldn't bear the question, so you sounded more irritated than you intended to. Sure, he was being a douche, but you’re not _that_ mean.

     "And you?" "Hades." You gulp, seeing that he was serious as he spoke. _Not fazed_ , you remind yourself. "Couldn't have guessed." you muttered, eyeing his t-shirt once again. "You sure you're not related in any way, shape, or form to Aphrodite?" he mentioned again. You shot him an annoyed look. He shot you an evil smirk. You didn't know much, but from what you did know, Aphrodite's clan painted their nails every night, and did nothing but pester people. So you, as an instinct, found that highly offensive. Your blood boiled.

      Because the gods seemed to be in your favour, the door opens behind you, and Juliet stammered through. She looks like she’d been dying to get out of a room without air conditioning. Her face trickled with sweat, and both you and the boy beside you stared at her with worried eyes. “There was an incident, but she’s okay. Just a bad vision. She wouldn’t calm down.” Juliet explained quickly, looking beside you. She puts her hands in her hips. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” She asked him with an extreme touch of sarcasm. “You’re showing newbie around? Wishing you luck. She’s got an Aphrodite attitude.” “Look-“ You said sternly as you close your eyes and tried not to burst. Juliet stepped towards him and pointed directly at the middle of his face, “Shove it, Nico.” She says,  “She’s not someone you’d want to mess with.” You didn’t necessarily know what she meant because you barely knew each other, but you stayed silent.

     “Oh, bite me, Jules. I’m kidding.” He said, glancing at you.

Juliet gave him a cold stare.

“I’ll keep my distance, jeez.” He saluted her and turned around, walking the opposite way.

You both sighed in unison, and she chuckles not long after. “That,” she began, “is Nico di Angelo. I promise he’s not as bad as he was just now.” You say with a smile and roll your eyes, “Perfect. Now I don’t have to refer to him as a narcissistic jackass anymore.”  

 

 


	3. a calling: part 1

 

            A day has passed since you’ve discovered the Villa. The vintage city had ten story tall apartments with spacious rooms made specifically for the many kids and teenagers who situated here on a regular basis. You found it intriguing how the Villa was divided by talent of nature, and of course, Juliet was best at weaponry and battle technique. “It’s kind of a calling,” you remember her telling you, “you’ll hear it sooner or later.” But within these past hours, you haven’t been hearing a ‘calling’.

   You’ve been hearing Laris’ words replay through your mind over and over again; _Her parent, they don’t want her knowing yet._

 _Wow_ , you thought. _That eager to meet me, huh?_

   “Good, you’re awake.” Juliet walked into the small living room, beaming with a smile. You instantly change your train of thought and attempt to return her expression. “What’s up with you?” You asked, sitting back on the couch. “Just… Happy that I finally have some company in my casa.” She said, making you laugh. “Coffee?” she asked. You smiled and nodded.

   Coffee always gave you that warm, cozy feeling of home. “Shit.” You muttered while placing your face into your fingers. You stood up and ran for the door, “Be back in a bit!” you yelled to Juliet, hearing her yell an “Ok!” back. Thankfully, there was a payphone everywhere that you looked.

    You ran down the stairs and found the nearest one. You stuck $1.25 in the slot and dialed the number. After a few rings, you heard shuffling noises on the receiver and a groggly, “Hello?”

    “Dad! Hey, it’s me.” You say, trying to hide the fact that you’re ecstatic to hear his voice. In all honesty, though you and your dad weren’t the closest, you missed seeing him; a little more than you expected.

    “Y/N?” he says with a startled voice, but it’s much clearer now. That made you hopeful that he’d missed you too. “I’m so glad to hear your voice…” he says and pauses. Your eyes begin to feel watery.

    “Hey, dad?” you ask, hearing him stay silent as you continue, “What’s going on?” you ask softly, closing your eyes in hopes that you don’t cry in the middle of the Villa- directly in front of Juliet’s apartment. You hear a long, tired sigh on the other line. “I-“ he begins, “I knew I should’ve told you sooner. Listen, the people there? They’ll take care of you. The Villa will be good for you. They’ll…” he breaks for a moment, and then quickly adds,

“they’ll tell you what I couldn’t.”

    Suddenly, time was frozen.

    This… This was about your mother. And you knew it was. This is why you were so afraid to question your dad about these things, because you knew it’d break him all over again. But this time, you took the risk, and you yourself feel like breaking as well. “Right.” you manage to say in reply. “Just... come back to me soon, okay?" He finally asks of you. Tears began to sting your eyes. "O- of course, dad. You know I will." There was silence. It made you wonder whether he actually felt like you wouldn’t make it back.

    You hung up the phone. Somehow, you unknowingly let your tears spill from your eyes, but you wipe them away immediately. You look to the left of you and notice that the boy on the bus is sitting on a bench near the end of the building- Nico, was it? And he possibly could’ve heard your entire phone conversation with your dad. “How impeccably rude.” You murmur and casually walk your way over. As you walked towards him, his eyes are fixed on you.

   And he didn’t move a muscle.

   You stop directly in front of him and cross your arms over your chest, leaning on your good leg (the other one is still bad, although it no longer looks like a grape). He’s slumped back onto the bench with his arms crossed. His gaze finds yours, and your eyes both meet. His dark ones had a mysterious cast on them, making him unreadable. “Anyone home?” you snap at him.  He blinks a few times and looks at you, furrowing his eyebrows.

   You roll your eyes, “Stop staring at me. It’s annoying as hell.”

   “Stop staring at _me_ , it’s annoying as hell.” He mocks of you and replies.

    You smiled slyly. Two can play at this game.

   “Stop talking to me. It’s annoying as hell.”

   “Last time I checked, you walked up to me.”

   “Last time I checked, you were listening to my phone conversation.”

   “You were crying,” he says, “Last time I checked, I was the son of Hades. I like seeing people dwell in their sadness, Newbie.”

   You look down and shake your head, “You’re sick.”

   He stands up and digs his hands into his pockets, taking a few steps towards you. He towers over you with his face is close to yours, but you don’t budge. He lowers his voice and a smirk tugs at the ends of his lips, “So I’ve been told.”

   You couldn’t take it anymore. Normally, you’d hate not having the last word. But you couldn’t do it. You needed to get away from him.

   Although, you knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

 

↠ ↠ ↠

 

    “Grab that sword over there,” Juliet told you, sticking her sword in her belt. You walked towards the end of the large stable and looked at the wall. You guessed she’d asked you to grab the one closest to you, significantly because it was the only one you could manage to reach. As you firmly held the bronze coloured sword, you vaguely saw the reflection of your eyes shine within it. “And that bow down there.” She gestures to the bow under a wooden table. You pick it up and feel it, smiling in excitement.

   “How does that feel?” she asks, appearing beside you. You shrug and look to her, “Like ten pounds of metal that I will _surely_ not be able to use.” You joked and nervously smiled.

“And the bow?” she asks. You look at it with pride. “I took archery classes when I was super little, and I think I still got it in me.” You reply. She raises an eyebrow and playfully punches your arm, “Remember,” She said, “it’s a calling.” _Right_ , you think. _A calling_. The both of you walk your way out of the stable. Almost a hundred young civilians have gathered across the large field, holding a variety of weapons and armoury.

“What’s happening?” you ask. “Training,” Juliet replies, “C’mon, we should take our places.”

   You follow Juliet to a small hut, monitored by a woman with glasses and an extremely rushed blowout. Juliet picks up a book and writes something inside. “Here,” she gives you the pen and the book, “Write your name in here. It’s just to confirm that you’re in the Villa Training Base. I’m gonna go find us a spot in the forest.” “Uh, okay.” You say and take the book.

   You flip through, seeing a variety of names on a series of almost seventy pages. You find your name and cross the box beside it, just as Juliet had. Suddenly, you feel someone stand behind your left shoulder, heaving over you.

You turn your head, seeing Nico peeking over your shoulder and looking at the book. You close the book shut and place it on the table, leaning on the counter with your right arm and looking at him up and down.

   “Who’s staring now?” he asks you and holds the small roof of the hut above you. It surprised you that he could reach it, but you remember that you’re literally a tree stump compared to him.

    “I wasn’t staring,” You scoff, “What do you want?” He glances at the book, then back at you. “Y/N Wellman, huh? Nice to see your real name actually isn’t ‘Newbie’.” He says and smiles. This guy is literally psycho.

    You look to the floor and stick your hands in your back pockets, giving him a fake smile. “Nice to see you’re still minding my business.”

    He lets out a slight chuckle and looks at your waist, seeing the sword hang from your leather belt. You notice him eyeing it and grasp the handle.

“Plan on using that thing?” he asks, “Didn’t think you’d be capable of holding it. Of course, without breaking a nail.” You eye his sword in return. He pushes his jacket aside and holds his sword as well. “And a bow?” he continues, his expression almost fading but maintaining its doubt, “There’s no way you could use that bow.”

   “Try me, Di Angelo.”

   He seems almost startled that you knew his name, as his cocky facial expression had softened. You turn around and walk away, making sure to glance back at him before you go. It’s as if he was challenging your skills. He wants challenge? _Bring it._  

 

↠ ↠ ↠


	4. a calling part 2

 

 

     Juliet had decided to train you using your sword first. You clung onto the heavy metal handle and grasped it, hoping to feel some comfort in handling the weapon. She’d been teaching you some defense mechanisms and strategies to attack, but in all honesty, they were too complicated to remember- even though you’d been training for almost a few hours now. She wipes her forehead and signals for you to try again. You roll your shoulders and maintain your stance. You figure that you’d aim for her underarm, since it’s a relatively sensitive spot. But she knew exactly where you were going. For several minutes now, you’d been trying to swing the sword with all of your force.

      But it wouldn’t abide your demands. Milliseconds after you take your first swing, your sword is sent flying out of your grasp and into the grass almost three feet behind you. “It takes time, right?” You say through a heavy sigh, trying to catch what’s left of your breath. She seems to be having the same issue, as she curls over and places her hands on her knees.

     “I mean, yeah, but it shouldn’t be taking this long.” “R- Really?” you stammer. “Really.” She replies, “If it’s meant to be, you should feel it in an instant. It should feel as if you were born to handle it.” “Oh…” You simply reply. She looks at you and squeezes your shoulder, “It’s okay. Let’s take a break and move on. I’ll put the sword back in the stables.”

     Finally making it to the field, you stand and admire the field of trainees around you. Most of them have swords. Others have blades. While one group, in particular, carried bows and walked away from what seemed to be the archery stalls. Unknowingly, you approach the stalls and stand for a moment, observing the row of targets perfectly aligned in front of you. You look around and stick your hands in your back pockets, making sure the coast is clear. You still have your bow from the stables. I wouldn’t hurt to shoot just one arrow before Juliet came back…

     You grasp the wooden bow with your left hand. In an instant, you place your hand on the upper limb and slide it to the grip. You grasp the bow and regain that familiar feeling you felt during archery classes when you were younger; adrenaline.

     You hold the bow out in front of you while keeping your arm slightly bent. You reach for an arrow in the case over your shoulder and slip it between your index and middle finger.

     The cold metal tingles through your fingers as you bring the arrow to its rest. Reaching the nocking point on the string, you align the two and bring the bow closer to your cheek. You close your eyes and remember the method from long ago; aim, breathe, release. You mutter it a few times and aim the arrow, focusing your eyes on the red dot in the center of the target. You stood about fifteen feet away, which was quite a distance, but it was the average. Isolating the target, you release the arrow, but you’re startled when a voice calls out for you.

     “Y/N!” You hear Juliet yelp as you turn to face her. But your eyes widen and you turn around to see that Juliet isn’t the only one paying attention to you. Multiple sets of eyes from almost the whole field have gathered around you, looking at you with what seems to be a series of shock, worry and concern. Juliet walks up to you and keeps her eyes glued onto your target. You feel her hand on your shoulder.

     “What?” you curiously ask her, and turn around as well. You’re startled as your lips part to form a smile, seeing that you hit the target with your arrow dead in the center. “Woah,” You say, your smile growing by the second, “I never get beginner’s luck. Still a little rusty, but with some practice, I think I’ll be okay.” She begins to shake her head in disbelief. “Why do have this?” She asks worriedly. “What do you mean? You told me to take it in the stables-” “No I didn’t.” She immediately says, “I didn’t tell you to take this one.” But before you can question why, Juliet had both your bow and arrow case in her hands and started walking away.

     You catch a glimpse of the crowd around you. Some children looked at you with amazement, while other older kids walked away and carried on with what they were doing. While they scattered, you couldn’t help but notice someone glance at you from afar. The dark haired boy sat in a tree on the ridge of the forest. He looked at you with an eyebrow raised and a smile. You roll your eyes and return his smile, assuming that he saw your shot at the target. You turn and walk away, realizing that it was the first time you’d seen him semi- genuinely smile.

 

↠ ↠ ↠

 

     The light of day began to fade, and evening was fast approaching. Oddly enough, you hadn’t seen Juliet since the training fields, when she walked away with your bow. You’d never been more confused in your life. She’d told you to take it. So why take it back and storm off with no reason? It just didn’t make sense to you; as did everything that’s happened in the past day. Since it was getting dark, you decided to head back to the apartment and get some rest. Maybe eat something. But you wondered if you’d be seeing Juliet there. You wished she was, because you needed some answers.

     As you approach the building, you see Nico seated on the bench in front of it. You walk towards him on the quiet sidewalk, and you immediately catch his attention. He leans his elbows on his knees and watches you as you walk past him, but stop immediately to turn around. He seems to notice, and he looks up at you curiously before looking back down to the ground. Before you can second guess your decision and continue walking, you hear his voice; “Nice shot out there, Wellman.” You turn to face him, placing your hands on your hips. “Didn’t think you could shoot.” He continues.

     “Didn’t think you could think.” You say back. He looks down and shakes his head, and you stand there and look at the sky. But then you thought of something…

     “How long have you known Juliet?” you ask him. Without hesitation, he replies with his gaze fixed to the floor, “Six years.” You figured if anyone knew Juliet best, it’d be him. There’s a moment of silence as you notice him look down at his hands as he plays with a ring on his finger. He breaks the silence, “Haven’t seen anyone around here use that specific bow since an Apollo kid went on a quest and never came back.” Your heartbeat increases. _Never came back?_ “ _That’s_ why she took it.” You say, looking to the floor and crossing your arms.

     “That bow…” he continues, “it was said to be cursed. A long time ago. No demigod has been able to use it in centuries,” he sighs and looks up at you, “So when I saw you use it…” You stay silent. Not only was this the most he’s ever said to you without insulting you, but the bow you’d just used was cursed. And oddly enough, “it felt… fine.” You shrug and say.

     “Don’t get attached, Newbie. You don’t wanna end up like that guy.” He warns you. You smile.

     “Aw," You cross your arms and look at him with a big grin, "are you looking out for me?”

     “Careful, Wellman,” he says and looks into your eyes with a smirk, “you’re almost making me sound like a good person.”

 

↠ ↠ ↠

 

     That night, you had trouble sleeping. Every fibre of your being was exhausted, but you felt as though you had too much on your mind to sleep. Juliet still hadn’t come back to the apartment. Where could she be? The events at the field kept replaying through your mind. Your bow was cursed? _Cursed_? Sure, you’d always felt cursed, but that Apollo dude never made it back home…

     Finally, you felt your eyes close, but your thoughts only grew worse as you fell deeper and deeper asleep.

     You dreamed of a hooded woman. She held a crying child in her arms.

     The atmosphere was intoxicated with chaos and grief. The woman was faceless, but she looked at her child with worry. Suddenly, there was an evil, grimace laugh that echoed the walls of what seemed to be a cabin. Another woman, significantly taller, and dressed in all white approached the woman. You could tell that she was speaking, but you heard no words. She looked at the child, all of a sudden alone and on the floor with its supposed mother lying on the floor next to her. The woman in white took the child and stroked its stomach with her long nails.

    Suddenly, the room felt colder.

     The woman’s eyes darted and scanned the room, and her gaze fell dead on you. Her ivory eyes furrowed and she began to walk closer to you. You stepped backwards until your back hit the cabin wall. With the child in hand, the woman held up another. Your breathing pattern changed. You began taking short, quick breaths to grasp the air.

     It’s moments before you realize that you’re choking.

     The baby begins to squeal and cry. You feel your eyes water as your body slowly loses oxygen. You tried to scream. You tried so hard to fight against it, but something wanted you to stop resisting.

     Something wanted you to die.

     You feel yourself stand on your tippy toes, grasping your neck. She begins to move closer to you. The closer she gets, the louder the baby cries, and the tighter you feel your throat squeeze. You feel like giving up.

     But you’re awoken by a deep, loud whisper.

     “Wellman. Wellman!” You hear a familiar voice say as you feel hands grasp your bare shoulders.

     You prop your body up with your elbows and gasp for air. The pair of hands let go of you, and you bring your hands to your chest; feeling your neck. You’re on Juliet’s couch, sweating buckets, face to face with Nico. He notices your chest rise and fall rapidly. You look at him and blink a few times, “Why are you here?” He looks at you with what could possibly be worried eyes, but shakes his head immediately.

     His large aviator’s jacket isn’t on, only his black t- shirt, and he’s still wearing his sneakers. You glance behind him and notice that the fridge door is open, and it seems to be the only source of light in the dark room. “You wouldn’t stop shaking,” he begins, “or screaming.” You look at him in confusion, but then you hold your head and begin to remember. The _dream._ _The woman…_

     “Listen,” He begins as he stands up and looks down at you, “There’s aspirin in the cupboard,” He closes the fridge door, “And tell Juliet she’s out of soda.”

     Suddenly, the front door of the apartment flies open. Juliet stumbles through and stops as she sees the two of you in her living room. “Nico?” She says and furrows her eyebrows, avoiding eye contact with you because she knows that you’re giving her the ‘where the bloody hell have you been?!’ stare. “He was just leaving,” you say, “right?” you look at him and make sure he understands that he should go before he makes the situation worse. He knew you wanted answers. But you knew that you wouldn't get them if he stuck around. He gives you a confused look and looks to the door. “Right.” He says coldly, and steps beside Juliet to walk out of the door. She stares at you the entire time.

     You reciprocate her stare. “I’ll explain later,” she begins, “but you need to come with me. Right now.” “Juliet, I swear to the gods, if you don’t tell me what’s happening-“ “Y/N!” she whisper- yells, “There’s no goddamn time! Now, please, move,” She pulls you off of the couch and throws you a robe,

      “We’re going to see Laris.”

 

↠ ↠ ↠

 

     It was one hell of a walk, but you decided to stay silent. You were furious with Juliet. How could she expect you to just be fine with her, your literal only friend here, disappearing after taking your only potential weapon away from you without an explanation? Better yet, the bow was freaking cursed.

     “Juliet.” You say to her, but she keeps walking. You stop in your tracks and cross your arms, “JULIET!” you say louder, and she quickly turns to face you. She throws her arms over her head in exasperation, “What?!” “Talk to me!” You say and wave your hands, “what is going _on_?” your voice softens. As sick as you are of her dragging you to different places without telling you why, she was still your friend. And, you are kind of sleeping on her couch. “I-“ she begins, but is cut off by the sound of glass shattering; coming from Laris’ house. You both look at each other and make a run for the building as fast as you can. Once you reach her porch, Juliet fiddle’s with the doorknob and bangs on the door with a closed fist, calling for Laris.

     You begin calling for her too, hoping and praying to the God’s that she’s okay. Suddenly, the door swings open, and you find Laris on the floor, fumbling to collect pieces of glass. You instantly bend down to help, while Juliet sits next to her. “I’m fine,” she says, “my crystal just broke. It’s fine. I’m fine.” She says quickly, standing and glancing at you. Her eyes are full of concern. You begin to worry.

     “Juliet brought you here for good reason, Y/N.” she says. You take a few breaths. She tells you and Juliet to mind the glass on the floor while you make it to your seats. You stare at Laris and Juliet, waiting for either of them to talk. Silence fills the room.

     “Before you ask or say anything,” Laris begins, “just let us speak. There’s crucial information that’s been brought to my attention that you need to know. It, at first, was a story. A rumour. But now…” She pauses. “Okay,” you quietly say, “I’m all ears.” Laris takes a deep breath.

     “My recent vision told a story.” She begins, “Long, long ago… And I’m talking eons ago, one of Zeus’ lovers gave birth to two children on the same day. They were beautiful children, and their mother loved them both. The children grew in peace, while learning to defend themselves and fighting using nothing more than a single bow. In fact, the bow you had today? I saw that exact same one in my vision." you flinch at her words, but let her continue. "They grew up side by side together. Nothing could keep them apart. They were Sun and Moon. Day and Night. And although they had their differences, they were the same. Now, somehow, they were abruptly separated. No one has heard anything of them in a decade and a half. The other grieved for the return of their sibling, but they never came back.”

 

     You stare at the table below and blink a few times, “That’s… horrible.” You manage to say.

     Laris looks at the table and continues to speak, "this goddess, Y/N. Zeus’ lover. Her name is Leto.”

 

     “I’ve… heard about her,” you say, “she had twins.” “Yes, yes,” Laris confirms, “But there’s a rumour… A rumour stating that _that_ specific sibling disappeared, because they had a child…” You thought about it. You tried putting two and two together, but it just didn’t fit. You knew of Artemis and Apollo. One swore themselves to maidenhood, while the other did their business elsewhere and slept with as many people as they wanted. Besides, you had a father. “There’s… also something else I saw in my vision.” Laris continues.

 

    “If a Deity breaks a solemn oath to infinite chastity, they are banned and imprisoned from Olympus…”

 

 


End file.
